FBI Laboratory

Roles in High-Profile Cases

Move of Supervisor , Unit Chiefs Follows Report Criticizing Lab

Washington Post Staff Water

A senior FBI official who helped supervise
the crime scenes after the bombings of the
Oklahoma City federal building and New
York's World Trade Center was among those
removed from their positions following an un¬
usual Justice Department report that criticizes
the work of the bureau's laboratory.

The transfer of supervisory agent David
Williams and two other FBI officials “who had
major responsibilities in explosives investiga¬
tions" renewed long-standing questions about
the integrity of the FBI lab and coukl set off a
round of legal challenges to bureau forensic
findings in high-profile prosecutions.

Williams, Tom Thurman, unit chief of the
explosives division, and Roger Martz, unit
chief of the chemistry and toxicology divi¬
sion, were transferred while the FBI evalu¬
ates a report by the Justice Department's in¬
spector general about their work in a
number of criminal investigations. According
to an official familiar with the report, the
three were transferred because of questions
concerning “sloppiness and mismanage¬
ment." The report criticizes some basic pro¬
cedures at the FBI lab and highlights some
two dozen cases in which there were prob¬
lems with possibly contaminated evidence
and other FBI laboratory procedures.

The unreleased report does not allege that
evidence was manipulated to benefit prose¬
cutors, officials said. It was not clear wheth¬
er the inspector general found problems with
the Oklahoma City or World Trade Center
investigations. Phone calls to the offices of
the three officials were not returned.

Justice Department officials maintained
yesterday that the allegations should have no
adverse effect on pending criminal cases and
said FBI lab work did not impair any suspect's
right to a fair trial. However, a number of se¬
nior law enforcement officials said privately
that the report's findings were troubling. The
FBI yesterday issued a six-page press release
detailing Director Louis J. Freeh’s efforts to j
improve the laboratory, including steps initiat¬
ed before the Justice inquiry.

Department criminal lawyers have re¬
viewed the inspector general’s findings and
have sought to address any issues that could

affect pending cases and those on appeal,
sources said. Williams, for example, likely
will not be called as an expert witness in the
Oklahoma City bombing trials of Timothy J.
McVeigh and Terry L. Nichols, sources said.

Federal prosecutions, particularly bomb¬
ing cases such as Oklahoma City, rely heavily
on scientific analysis and forensic evidence to
convince juries of the government's case. If

the credibility of FBI forensics becomes a
major issue, such cases could be jeopardized.

Stephen Jones, attorney for McVeigh, said
he is well aware of the Justice probe and is
prepared to put the FBI laboratory on trial.

“I think they are engaged in forensic pros¬
titution, especially the bomb analysis unit
and perhaps others,” Jones said. “The FBI
laboratory work will be subjected to close ex¬
amination during the trial." Jones said he had
been given significant access to FBI working
papers and lab protocols and that it had prov¬
en “beneficial to the defense.”

Meanwhile, the FBI leadership spent part
of yesterday fending off questions from a key

Justice Department
officials said the
allegations should have
no adverse effect on
pending criminal cases.

congressional oversight figure concerning-its
recent paid suspension of forensic scientist
Frederic Whitehurst, who prompted the Justice
investigation with complaints about procedures
at the laboratory. In a meeting with Sen.
Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), who chairs the
Judiciary subcommittee on administrative over¬
sight and the courts, the FBI maintained that
Whitehurst’s suspension was not retaliatory.

The FBI lab conducts more than 600,000 ex¬
aminations a year for local, state, federal and in¬
ternational law enforcement agencies.

The Justice report, prepared with the help of
several world-reno f wned forensic experts, found
that in some cases the bureau laboratory exer¬
cised lax control over evidence and that ac¬
countability over findings needed to be im¬
proved. The report also recommends that the
lab undergo strict accreditation procedures and
that scientists be placed in charge of the labora¬
tory rather than law enforcement personnel.

FBI officials yesterday were quick to points
out that Freeh has sought to get the bureau ac¬
credited by the American Society of Crime Lab¬
oratory Directors, has obtained funding for a
new laboratory and has implemented initiatives
aimed at improving the bureau’s forensic pro¬
gram, including:

■ Formation of a quality assurance unit to en¬
sure sound laboratory practices.

■ $30 million to modernize laboratory equip¬
ment.

■ Creation of evidence response teams to ex¬
pand the number of personnel trained and
equipped to handle crime-scene evidence.